Fired principal alleges Collier school district violated her free-speech right

Manatee Middle School Principal Pamela Vickaryous, right, leads the faculty in greeting students with a red carpet and high-fives on the first day back to school in Collier County in this 2015 file photo.(Photo: Lance Shearer/Corresponden)

A Collier school principal who was fired in April has filed a lawsuit against the School Board accusing the district of punishing her for reporting on-campus criminal activity to the Sheriff’s Office as opposed to keeping matters “in house,” among other claims.

The former principal, Pamela Vickaryous, was fired from Manatee Middle School after a three-month investigation into what dozens of employees characterized as a pattern of erratic and abusive behavior through the targeting, bullying and undermining of staff, school records show.

Vickaryous was investigated in 2016 after a series of similar complaints but was reinstated. In the months that followed her reinstatement, 12 employees resigned from the school, and several others indicated they also planned to leave, according to investigation records. Many cited Vickaryous’ behavior as the cause.

The lawsuit, filed May 7 in federal court in Fort Myers, accuses the School Board of violating Vickaryous’ First Amendment rights as well as Florida’s Public Whistleblowers Act in numerous incidents.

One incident in May 2016 involved a teacher suspected of being intoxicated at the school and later attempting to operate his vehicle. Vickaryous reported the incident to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office despite the school district’s request to avoid doing so, according to the lawsuit. Vickaryous also participated in an investigation conducted by the Florida Department of Education into the incident.

In response, the district “began a campaign of retaliation, which included ... soliciting concocted complaints about Vickaryous,” the lawsuit states.

Vickaryous also reported to the Sheriff's Office a bus driver suspected of sending inappropriate text messages to a female student. The district “was displeased that Vickaryous opted to exercise her free speech rights by contacting CCSO rather than keeping the matter ‘in house,’ ” the complaint states.

Additionally, the lawsuit contends Vickaryous is being retaliated against for complaining about the absence of a school deputy at Manatee Middle School for a meeting of the League of Women Voters.

The school district made note of Vickaryous’ comments in their investigation, saying she “publicly denigrated” the Sheriff’s Office while representing herself as the principal of Manatee Middle School, thereby "harm(ing) community confidence and respect.”

The lawsuit states Vickaryous was not acting as an employee of the district and made the comments because they were of public interest.

Vickaryous began working for the school district in 2009 as the assistant principal of East Naples Middle School and was promoted to principal of Manatee Middle School in 2014.

Pam Vickaryous.(Photo: Lance Shearer/Marco Eagle Correspondent)

Throughout her tenure, Vickaryous has received only “effective” and “highly effective” performance ratings and was ranked as the highest-performing middle school principal in her first year, the lawsuit states.

Many residents have credited Vickaryous for increasing Manatee Middle’s state grade from a C to a few points shy of an A. After her removal in 2018, a Change.org petition calling for her reinstatement made note of her accomplishments and suggested many teachers did not take well to her strict managerial approach. The petition has been signed by more than 500 people.

Vickaryous was recognized and rewarded for her success “until she exercised her right to free speech under the First Amendment and engaging in statutorily protected activity" under the Florida Public Whistleblowers Act, the complaint reads.

The district’s 2018 investigation made note of Vickaryous’ professional accomplishments.

“However, positive accomplishments do not provide a license to engage in abusive, demeaning, bullying, harassing, intimidating, threatening and retaliatory actions and behaviors,” the investigation states.

Only two staff members interviewed by the district were supportive of Vickaryous. However, statements in those interviews revealed a negative climate at the school, the investigation found. For example, Manatee Middle teacher Joseph Oneto stated people were celebrating when Vickaryous was removed from the school.

Vickaryous declined to comment on the lawsuit and referred the Daily News to her attorney.

The Collier school district declined to answer questions relating to the 2016 and 2018 investigations and would not comment on Vickaryous' lawsuit.

Vickaryous’ attorney Benjamin Yormak said the school climate survey that prompted the investigation that led to her firing was “designed to elicit negative responses” and did not include positive responses.

The school’s district’s investigation found that complaints against Vickaryous spanned “a considerable period of time.” The 2018 investigation included interviews with four employees regarding her behavior as assistant principal of East Naples Middle, including the school’s former teachers union representative, Maggie Diaz.

Diaz told the district she witnessed numerous teachers crying after meetings with Vickaryous and that many told her they felt bullied and harassed.

At Manatee Middle, many staff members said Vickaryous targeted them for refusing to carry out unfair practices, such as altering student grades, or for applying for positions at other schools, investigation records show. Several Manatee employees said they witnessed Vickaryous using security cameras to monitor staff.

In her sworn statement, Jessica Duesler, the former assistant principal of curriculum at Manatee Middle, said she had post-traumatic stress disorder from working with Vickaryous. Duesler said Vickaryous' unpredictable outbursts caused her to lose sleep and feel constantly on edge.

Duesler said she “never cried as much in my life like I did when I worked at MMS” and that the experience “felt like being in an abusive relationship.”

Manatee’s guidance counselor, Kelly Gentry, said every assistant principal had come to her crying because of Vickaryous’ behavior toward them.

“My office is the cry room,” she told district investigators.

Jennifer Bledsoe, the former assistant principal of curriculum at Corkscrew Middle School, has replaced Vickaryous as principal of Manatee Middle.